


seconds

by heygorgeous



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, but im shit at math so, largely sticks to canon timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 10:56:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9120625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heygorgeous/pseuds/heygorgeous
Summary: [prompt: soul mates AU where everyone has a timer counting down to when they meet their soul mates. but what if one day one of them finds their timer has restarted?]"But it is his wrist that’s scorching with the guilt of escape. It is his wrist that ticks on, painfully aware that it’s Yuuri again, who takes and takes, and gives Viktor nothing in return. He’s a very, very selfish person after all; keeping the living legend all to himself, usurping a narrative too big, too noble for his own good.‘Maybe,’ A voice sneaks into Yuuri’s head. ‘I ruined Viktor Nikiforov.’"





	

**Author's Note:**

> I love soulmates AU and you can't stop me. Rationale behind the work is explained at the end.

**00.01.02.16.29.54**

Yuuri’s timer restarts.

He’s not sure why, or how it even happens. He’s not sure if it’s even _possible_. But the numbers are staring back at him defiantly, a blinking code red harsh against his bruised wrist. He can’t help but trace the numbers – the secondsminuteshoursdaysmonths, _years_ he spent waiting for someone like Viktor – as they plunge on, accumulating towards a second coming.

“Yuuri!” Viktor’s sing-song voice waltzes into the room.

Yuuri swallows, and pulls his jacket cuff back over the traitorous thought. “C-coming!”

* * *

 

**00.01.02.10.30.02**

He spends the whole day wondering how this could have happened. Goes online and pulls out a list of relevant sites while he’s taking a water break, fingers ghosting over scandalous links and tags, wondering whether it’s even right for him to consider the possibility of a second soulmate. Yuuri places his bottle down somewhere next to him, and presses a link.

“Yuuri~ what are you doing?” Viktor croons, suddenly pressed up behind him.

“N-nothing!” Yuuri yelps, backpedalling through his searches.

Viktor holds him from behind, arms comfortably tucked around Yuuri’s shoulders. Yuuri relaxes into the embrace, but not before his eyes catch the timer on Viktor’s own wrist. It’s a faded string of numbers, no longer blinking, no longer seeking. Yuuri swallows uneasily.

“You’ve really been out of it today,” Viktor complains, and shifts.

The blinking notification on his phone glimmers sharply, knowingly. “Um.”

“Now, come on. Tell me what’s wrong,” Viktor whispers into his ear.

Yuuri fumbles, tries to blame it on something he ate this morning, and inevitably pulls his sleeve over his own timer, hoping the fabric is thick enough to cover the shameful red numbers.

* * *

 

**00.01.02.05.00.21**

Yuuri flubs every single jump that day. Viktor doesn’t say anything on the way home.

* * *

 

**00.01.01.22.08.44**

Yuuri doesn’t sleep that night, opting to stay up and research. Viktor had been whining at him to rest, and had also manhandled him into sleeping. Two hours later, Viktor is sound asleep, and Yuuri is stealthily making his way to his own room, laptop in tow.

Nothing’s coming up – there aren’t any past examples of second soul mates, no ridiculous Yahoo! Answer or Wikihow page dedicated to his predicament. What do you do when the universe destines you to _cheat_ _on your partner_?

Yuuri shakes the thought off; it’s enough to send chills down his neck, and he turns to make sure that Viktor isn’t already standing in the doorway, ready to call him out on his infidelity. There’s no one in the darkness, and that simultaneously calms and worries Yuuri. Should he even be considering this possibility?

 _‘And even if it could happen, wouldn’t it be Viktor’s timer and not mine,’_ Yuuri thinks bitterly, working his fingers through his hair.

The screen burns into his eyes, words blurring into an incoherent black mess. Maybe this is all wrong; maybe it’s just some mistake, some anomaly that’s started his timer – because when it comes down to it, Yuuri knows that Viktor’s the one who deserves a second chance. Someone better.

But it _is_ his wrist that’s scorching with the guilt of escape. It is his wrist that ticks on, painfully aware that it’s Yuuri again, who takes and takes, and gives Viktor nothing in return. He’s a very, very selfish person after all; keeping the living legend all to himself, usurping a narrative too big, too noble for his own good.

‘ _Maybe,_ ’ A voice sneaks into Yuuri’s head. _‘_ I _ruined Viktor Nikiforov._ ’

He can’t bring himself to return to their shared room, not like this.

* * *

 

Yuuri moves back into his own room for the next few days. Some flimsy excuse about being sick stretches from days into weeks. And maybe, Yuuri thinks hopelessly, into forever. If Viktor notices anything, he doesn’t say it. And if Viktor feels upset by it, Yuuri _knows_ it’s for his own good.

(Yuuri forgets for whom exactly he means well.)

* * *

 

**00.00.13.09.32.11**

Yuuri’s been persistently ignoring the numbers on his wrist. He lands most of his jumps pretty well now – it’s not a _problem_ , exactly, because his precision is clear-cut and diligently practiced. But that’s the thing. Yuuri’s expertise lies in his emotions, in his presentation. The jumps, the quads, the triple axel, the intricate footwork, _everything_ , becomes meaningless when Yuuri’s not aching to perform it.

Right now he’s desperately trying to ignore the hammering of his heart, beating in tandem with the countdown on his wrist. Right now he’s trying to forget the story he’s created with Eros – a mocking tale of broken promises and hearts. Right now he’s just tired of trying to figure out what the universe is telling him, and fitting that edict in with his own selfish desires.

When Viktor calls him to the side of the rink for the umpteenth time, Yuuri heaves a sigh of something like relief; he’s not big on Eros (of all things) right now, but he’s also sure that Viktor is extremely disappointed with his performance.

But Viktor is smiling. “Yuuri, let’s take a break.”

Reflexively, Yuuri exclaims, “No, let me just try that one more –”

Viktor sighs, and looks away.

* * *

 

**00.00.10.23.55.48**

Yuuri can’t help it when his heart speeds up at the thought of meeting a second soul mate.

* * *

 

**00.00.10.18.45.02**

Yuuri can’t help it when his heart breaks, seeing Viktor stowed away under the covers next to him. No doubt the man had snuck into his bed last night.

* * *

 

**00.00.01.17.40.10**

They settle into Barcelona’s hotel, just one day before the Grand Prix Final begins. Yuuri’s been wearing a band around his wrist, and if Viktor notices, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he agrees enthusiastically when Yuuri demands that they spend the afternoon and evening sightseeing.

* * *

 

He’s not a hundred percent certain that this is the right move, but damn, the ring is bought, he’s hauled Viktor at least four hundred metres away to the cathedral, and they’re facing each other already. Yuuri, hands trembling, unfurls Viktor’s glove from his hand, and slips the ring on. It’s a good luck charm, he decides to say, it’s something to thank you. The wording is vague enough that Yuuri can allow himself a way out, just in case, but it’s also definitively _something_. Because even if the universe’s just dropped a bomb on him, even if the universe is scrambling to undo whatever lucky mistake (lucky for Yuuri, that is), Yuuri is greedy enough to fight back.

He realises – with a twinge of bittersweet pain – that Viktor is, too.

* * *

 

**00.00.01.14.30.10**

Viktor’s bought a similar ring, and it’s resting sturdily around his ring finger.

* * *

 

**00.00.01.14.00.01**

Yuuri finds that he doesn’t mind the weight. It’s almost as if Viktor’s holding his hand, a warm touch in this cold evening. When Phichit yells that they’re getting married, Yuuri doesn’t exactly deny it.

When Viktor confirms that their marriage will take place right after he wins gold, Yuuri, again, doesn’t deny it.

* * *

 

**00.00.00.16.05.38**

He fucked Eros up. How ironic.

* * *

 

**00.00.00.14.32.11**

“…let’s end this.”

* * *

 

**00.00.00.02.07.02**

They hadn’t said anything that morning; Yuuri pulled out his band in the midst of changing into his costume, and Viktor caught sight of a red, blinking thread winding itself around Yuuri’s wrist.

Yuuri doesn’t want to explain. He’s ready to leave.

* * *

 

**00.00.00.00.03.29**

When Yuuri steps out onto the rink, Viktor holds him close. But there’s a wall between the both of them, enough to keep a safe distance, Yuuri thinks wryly.

“I’m sure you can win gold.”

But this is Yuuri’s last dance on ice, and god be damned if he’s tired of staying safe, keeping distance.

Out of sheer spite, out of exhaustion, Yuuri retaliates – he won’t take this lying down. “You said you wanted to be yourself, Viktor, don’t start acting like a coach just now.”

**00.00.00.00.01.20**

“Yuuri, listen to me.”

And he does.

**00.00.00.00.01.00**

“I debated whether I should tell you this now, but…”

**00.00.00.00.00.40**

“I took a break after becoming the five-time world champion to coach you, so how is it possible that you still haven’t won a single gold medal?”

**00.00.00.00.00.19.**

“How much longer are you going to stay in warm-up mode?”

**00.00.00.00.00.02**

“I really want to kiss the gold medal.”

**00.00.00.00.00.00**

Everything clicks, snaps into place with a loudness that rings through his fingers, his arms, his chest, runs deep in his veins: Yuuri looks up from his wrist, and sees Viktor.

Viktor, Viktor, Viktor.

The zeroes on their wrists shake with the weight of what both men _want_ , waning into the crevices of their skin, turning to second nature. Yuuri knows what he can give Viktor, and he’ll take all his chances – he’ll be selfish, greedy, unsated, so long as it sparks the fire in Viktor’s blue, blue eyes.

But right now, it is the gold rings that they kiss.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't really pay attention to how I was structuring the numbers until the very end so please forgive me if I made a mistake haha. Um! So my friend and I were talking about what if someone's timer restarted, and would that mean they would have to meet a second soulmate, but to me that seemed like it would go against the entire principle of having the AU at all... or maybe I'm just cheating because I really want Viktuuri to be together so HAHAHA. Also exploring the thing about Viktor finally expressing/opening himself up to Yuuri idk I thought - I just thought that would be a good. second chance. Because Viktor is effectively saying to Yuuri that "dude. i want to marry u" through expressing his desire to kiss the medal and imo that's what clinches the deal. kind of. let's ignore the fact that i didn't account for Yurio's help hahaha cries.


End file.
